Zemeni Grammar: Difference between revisions

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Nouns inflect only for singular and plural number. The plural marker is a prefix which comes from an historic word ''*is-'' ("all"), which also gave rise to the plural pronouns. The following table shows examples of singular and plural forms for noun roots with different initials:
Nouns inflect only for singular and plural number. The plural marker is a prefix which comes from an historic word ''*is-'' ("all"), which also gave rise to the plural pronouns. The following table shows examples of singular and plural forms for noun roots with different initials:
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
! Initial
! colspan=2 | Initial
! Singular
! Singular
! Plural
! Plural
! Prefix
! Initial Change
|-
|-
! Vowel, Voiceless Stop/Affricate
! colspan=2 | Vowel
| ara
| rowspan=2 | ara
| isara
| rowspan=2 | isara
| rowspan=2 | is-
| rowspan=2 | —
|-
! rowspan=2 | Stop/Affricate
! Voiceless
|-
|-
! Voiced Stop/Affricate
! Voiced
| gambo
| gambo
| iskambo
| iskambo
| is-
| Devoicing
|-
|-
! Nasal
! colspan=2 | Glottal
| neri
| hon
| izneri
| ison
|-
| is-
! Liquid
| Deletion
| remba
| izhremba
|-
|-
! Glide
! colspan=2 | Glide
| yavi
| yavi
| ishavi
| ishavi
| ish-
| Deletion
|-
|-
! Fricative
! colspan=2 | Fricative
| khaze
| khaze
| ikkhaze
| ikkhaze
| i-
| Gemination
|-
|-
! Glottal
! colspan=2 | Nasal
| hon
| neri
| ison
| izneri
| iz-
| —
|-
! colspan=2 | Liquid
| remba
| izhremba
| izh-
| —
|}
|}


==Pronouns==
==Pronouns==
Pronouns decline for case, number and person. The cases are nominative and accusative, and the numbers singular and plural. In addition to first, second and third-person pronouns, there is also an inclusive dual pronoun, with no number and case distinctions. The pronouns decline as follows:
Pronouns decline for case, number and person. The cases are nominative and accusative, and the numbers singular and plural. In addition to first, second and third-person pronouns, there is also an inclusive dual pronoun, with no case distinctions. The pronouns decline as follows:


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
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==Verbs==
==Verbs==


The infinitive form of a verb is marked with ''bes'' ("do") followed by a verbal noun, for example ''adawa'' ("fight") in the infinitive ''bes adawa'' ("to fight"). The forms ''adawe'' ("fight!") and ''adawesi'' ("we fight") are formed from the verb root ''adaw-,'' which goes against the common cross-linguistic tendency for roots to seldom end in a glide. Verbal nouns for verbs with roots ending in a glide are formed by copying the final vowel of the root as a suffix. Historically, ''bes'' being used with verbal nouns, which were zero-derived from the verb root, paired with the fact that roots ending in a glide required the addition of a copy vowel, resulted in the generalization that the addition of a copy vowel to the root forms a verbal noun.  
Verbs conjugate for tense and voice, and agree with their subjects in person and number. The voices are active and passive, and the tenses non-past, perfect, and imperfect. Verbs differ in their conjugation patterens based what sound the verb root begins and ends with.  


The conjugation of ''adawa'' (vowel-initial, glide-final root) is depicted in the following chart:
Take as an example the verb root ''adaw-'' "fight". The forms ''adawe'' ("fight!") and ''adawesi'' ("we fight") are formed from the root by means of suffixes. The infinitive form of a verb is marked with ''bes'' ("do") followed by a verbal noun, in this case ''adawa'' ("fight"), which gives the infinitive form ''bes adawa'' ("to fight"). Verbal nouns for verb roots ending in a glide are formed by copying the final vowel of the root as a suffix. Historically, the fact that ''bes'' was used with verbal nouns, which were zero-derived from the verb root, combined with the fact that roots ending in a glide required the addition of a copy vowel, resulted in the generalization that the addition of a copy vowel to the root forms a verbal noun. The conjugation of ''adawa'' (vowel-initial, glide-final root) is depicted in the following chart:


{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
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|-
|-
! rowspan="3" | Singular  
! rowspan="3" | Singular  
! 1st
! 1st Person
| adawa
| adawa
| kyadawa
| kyadawa
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| inezadawa
| inezadawa
|-  
|-  
! 2nd  
! 2nd Person
| adawo
| adawo
| kyadawo
| kyadawo
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| inezadawo
| inezadawo
|-  
|-  
! 3rd  
! 3rd Person
| adawene
| adawene
| kyadawene
| kyadawene
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|-
|-
! rowspan="3" | Plural
! rowspan="3" | Plural
! 1st
! 1st Person
| adawesi
| adawesi
| kyadawesi
| kyadawesi
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| inezadawesi
| inezadawesi
|-  
|-  
! 2nd  
! 2nd Person
| rowspan="2" | adaweso
| rowspan="2" | adaweso
| rowspan="2" | kyadaweso
| rowspan="2" | kyadaweso
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| rowspan="2" | inezadaweso
| rowspan="2" | inezadaweso
|-  
|-  
! 3rd  
! 3rd Person
|-
|-
! colspan="2" | Infinitive
! colspan="2" | Infinitive

Latest revision as of 22:21, 14 March 2024

Zemeni Language Navigation: Home, Phonology, Grammar, Vocabulary, Orthography, Dialogue

Zemeni is an agglutinative language.

Phonology

Main page: Appendix:Zemeni pronunciation

An important phonetic rule is that high vowels lower after glides, which plays a role in many of the inflectional paradigms.

Nouns

Nouns inflect only for singular and plural number. The plural marker is a prefix which comes from an historic word *is- ("all"), which also gave rise to the plural pronouns. The following table shows examples of singular and plural forms for noun roots with different initials:

Initial Singular Plural Prefix Initial Change
Vowel ara isara is- —
Stop/Affricate Voiceless
Voiced gambo iskambo is- Devoicing
Glottal hon ison is- Deletion
Glide yavi ishavi ish- Deletion
Fricative khaze ikkhaze i- Gemination
Nasal neri izneri iz- —
Liquid remba izhremba izh- —

Pronouns

Pronouns decline for case, number and person. The cases are nominative and accusative, and the numbers singular and plural. In addition to first, second and third-person pronouns, there is also an inclusive dual pronoun, with no case distinctions. The pronouns decline as follows:

Singular Plural
Nominative Accusative Nominative Accusative
First Person avi av isi ek
Second Person o iso is
Third Person ene en
Inclusive Dual avo

Verbs

Verbs conjugate for tense and voice, and agree with their subjects in person and number. The voices are active and passive, and the tenses non-past, perfect, and imperfect. Verbs differ in their conjugation patterens based what sound the verb root begins and ends with.

Take as an example the verb root adaw- "fight". The forms adawe ("fight!") and adawesi ("we fight") are formed from the root by means of suffixes. The infinitive form of a verb is marked with bes ("do") followed by a verbal noun, in this case adawa ("fight"), which gives the infinitive form bes adawa ("to fight"). Verbal nouns for verb roots ending in a glide are formed by copying the final vowel of the root as a suffix. Historically, the fact that bes was used with verbal nouns, which were zero-derived from the verb root, combined with the fact that roots ending in a glide required the addition of a copy vowel, resulted in the generalization that the addition of a copy vowel to the root forms a verbal noun. The conjugation of adawa (vowel-initial, glide-final root) is depicted in the following chart:

Active Passive
Non-Past Perfect Imperfect Non-Past Perfect Imperfect
Singular 1st Person adawa kyadawa inadawa ezadawa kyezadawa inezadawa
2nd Person adawo kyadawo inadawo ezadawo kyezadawo inezadawo
3rd Person adawene kyadawene inadawene ezadawene kyezadawene inezadawene
Plural 1st Person adawesi kyadawesi inadawesi ezadawesi kyezadawesi inezadawesi
2nd Person adaweso kyadaweso inadaweso ezadaweso kyezadaweso inezadaweso
3rd Person
Infinitive bes adawa kibes adawa imbes adawa bes ezadawa kibes ezadawa imbes ezadawa
Imperative adawe ezadawe
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